An Inconvenient Truth, is Al Gore’s documentary and book on climate change and below are some answers he gave during an interview a while back.

Question: You famously climbed Rainier in 1999. How was that, and what’s the prediction for the Pacific Northwest?

Al Gore: Rainier was a wonderful father-son experience. The conditions were just ridiculous so bad my Secret Service chief, doctor, and military aide with the nuclear football all turned back. The rest of us decided to take it stage by stage, and shortly before dawn the mountain cleared just enough for us to make the final ascent. Regarding climate change, the prognosis for the Northwest is drastic change. Let me quote from a new Oregon State University study: “The coastal ranges are especially sensitive to climate change, because the temperatures frequently hover near freezing, so even slight warming can drastically reduce snow accumulation.” About the Olympics, it says this: “More than 60 percent of the range’s snow-covered areas would become rain-dominated areas.”

Question: How about Glacier National Park?

Al Gore: In 15 years, according to some projections, it’s going to be “The Park Formerly Known as Glacier.” I’ve hiked to the top of the Grinnell Glacier, and there’s a huge meltwater pool where the lower half of it used to be. The scientists would probably say we can’t make changes quickly enough to forestall their disappearance.

Question: What do you say to skeptics?
Al Gore: First, the evidence clearly demonstrates that as bad as you thought the problem was before, it is actually much worse. Second, the top scientists say we probably have fewer than 10 years to make significant changes and still stop the irreversible damage.

Question: Just Ten years?

Al Gore: It’s truly a planetary emergency. The good news is we have time, and we have the technologies we need. The only thing lacking is political will.